University of Illinois at Chicago has named Mitra Dutta as vice chancellor for research. Dutta received a BSc from Gauhati University, an MSc in physics from the University of Delhi, and a master’s and doctorate in physics from the University of Cincinnati.. Her appointment was announced by Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares.

Dutta is a former senior executive with the US Army Research Office. She has also served as interim vice chancellor at one of America’s leading research universities since January, overseeing a research enterprise with annual expenditures of more than $340 million. Dr. Dutta’s outstanding performance as interim vice chancellor and her distinguished record as a researcher, administrator and teacher make her the ideal choice to take on this vital role.

Dutta joined Illinois University in 2001 to head the newly formed department of electrical and computer engineering. Since joining Illinois University, she has been principal or co-principal investigator on about 20 grants totaling more than $7.5 million.

Dutta has authored about 300 journal publications and book chapters and co-authored or co-edited seven books. She has 30 patents and several more in application status. A longtime senior researcher and director with the Army laboratories who supervised $310 million in grants to universities, she is past recipient of the Society of Women Engineers’ Achievement Award, the organization’s highest honour.

Her responsibility as vice chancellor will be enhancement of excellence in research throughout the campus, and assuring academic integrity in research endeavors and compliance with federal, state and local regulations pertaining to research, including protection of human participants in research trials.